Nintendo announces Link’s Awakening remake for Switch

In its latest Nintendo Direct video presentation, the Kyoto-based company announced a remake to one of the very first Legend of Zelda titles ever made, Link’s Awakening.

Beloved by fans for its storytelling, pioneering art style, and variety in its dungeons, enemies, and environments, Link’s Awakening has long been rumoured as a game ripe with potential remake potential.

Nintendo has announced that the remake, simply titled The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, is being remade for a 2019 release on Nintendo Switch. Actual game features have yet to be announced, but it does look to stay true to its original form, complete with a wise-cracking owl, and a chain chomp that terrorizes Link as he walks by.

The game’s visuals are a mix of 2013’s A Link Between Worlds (hard to believe it’s been six years since the last original Zelda game on in this style) and a more realistic render with a unique tilt-shift perspective that we haven’t seen from Nintendo before. Just look at the tiles on the roof of the castle!

What also remains to be seen is how Link’s items will factor into gameplay. Roc’s feather, a tool that allows Link to jump, is not seen in the trailer, whereas the original game had it front and centre as it needed to be toggled to the A or B button. As no user interface elements are seen in this trailer, it is unclear how these kinds of decisions are made to stay true to the original game or whether it will depart more greatly from the original title than this trailer leads us to believe.

About The Author

Christopher Kalanderopoulos founded Eggplante in 2009 to cover one event in Los Angeles. It never occurred to him that it might make him the Editor-in-Chief of an online magazine nearly half a decade later. He spends most of his time gaming, backing cool Kickstarter projects, and hanging out with his wicked cool niece and nephew.